Lined With Roses
by Oneturtledove
Summary: The path in life is not always lined with roses. When it is, be careful of the thorns.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Not mine

Spoilers: Every single thing from every single episode, savvy?

A/N: Fair warning: You are not getting answers in this chapter. Okay? As long as we're clear. Just wait a little and I will have another chapter. It's called realistic progression… know about it.

* * *

Sarah Wallace sat in the middle of her bed, folding her clothes and shoving them into a bag. She knew it would end this way, she had just been hoping she was wrong. Taking her glasses off, she wiped at the tears that fell down her cheeks. Crying was wrong. Crying meant there was someone else to blame. And there was no one to blame but herself. She sniffled and zippered the bag closed, then collapsed back against the plush pillows. She wasn't quite sure what to do now. Her dad had kicked her out, and she had no place to go. Sure, she had friends, but she couldn't live with them forever. She'd never known her mom, and she was certain that her dad's side of the family would take the news even worse than he had.

She stood up and slid into her shoes while looking out the window at the lights of the town. Maybe there was a shelter she could go to. Maybe she could crash in a hospital waiting room, where no one would think twice about the teenager sleeping in the corner. Maybe she should just wander and see where she ended up. It wasn't terribly cold, maybe she could sleep in the park. Pretend she was five again, camping out in the woods, back when life was easy. Back when she had everything.

She sighed and pulled away from the window, biting her lip and tucking a dark strand of hair behind her ear. She had to think of something. She wasn't a kid anymore. Hadn't been in a week. Never would be again, most probably. She wanted nothing more than to run downstairs, throw herself in her father's arms and cry. But he was too upset now. Eventually he would come around, but for now she needed to leave him alone.

Her stomach lurched at the thought of disappointing him. Her dad was her hero. Her Superman. He cheered the loudest at all of her recitals and plays and games. He was the dad that never complained about driving her place to place. He was the one who still kissed her goodnight and hugged her when she left in the morning. They were best friends. And she had broken his heart.

She paced back and forth in front of the window, staring at the phone across the room. She had a feeling of what to do. She just wasn't sure it would work. Her hand reached out and grabbed the phone, her thumb hovering over the numbers as she recited them in her head. She had memorized it years ago, but had never used it until now.

* * *

"Okay, so if I do the reports for September, that means you'll do them for October?" Mulder asked, running a hand through his already tousled hair.

"It's a fair deal," Scully answered with a slight shrug, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Are you going to turn on me and complain that there is one more day in October than September?"

"No, because the extra day is Halloween, and you never work on Halloween."

Her grin was triumphant and he had to smile himself.

"So we have actually struck a deal and settled the seven year debate over who is doing the paperwork."

"I feel like we have accomplished something great."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Scully, what are we going to bicker about now?"

"I don't know."

"That's our thing!"

The phone rang and she chuckled as she stood up from the couch, taking her glasses off.

"I guess we're going to have to find a new thing."

"Like how you always answer the phone when we're supposed to be working?"

"Shut up, Mulder," she said before picking up the phone. "Hello?... Sarah? Whoa, honey, slow down. What's going on?... What?... What happened, Sarah?... Oh, honey… Yes, I'll be there. I'm getting my shoes on and I'll be there as soon as I can, okay? It's going to be fine, honey. I'll see you in a bit."

She hung the phone up and pulled her shoes on before grabbing the phone again.

"Scully, what's going on?"

"Just…" she shook her head and hopped around, trying to get her left shoe on all the way. "Hey, it's Dana. Sarah just called me….I'm just wondering if that was the whole story… You really kicked her out?... No, I understand. I don't like it, but I get it… No, I'm coming down there… I'm leaving now… We'll talk when I get there… I know. I do too. I'll be there in a bit."

She hung up the phone again and grabbed her coat off the kitchen table chair.

"Mulder, I gotta go. Lock up when you leave."

"Wait, Scully, what's going on?"

"Family emergency."

"Is everything okay?"

"It will be. I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow."

She reached out and squeezed his hand, then left the apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

Mulder's phone rang a few minutes before noon the next day. He had been up for hours trying to figure out what was going on with Scully. He'd even called her, but she hadn't answered. He thought about calling her mom, but it was too late at night for that.

Now he grabbed the phone up even before it had finished its first ring.

"Hello?"

"Mulder, it's me."

"Hi."

"Sorry I ditched you last night."

"I figured it was important. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it will be. Can we meet for lunch? A walk?"

"Sure. Where?"

"The coffee shop in half an hour?"

"I'll be there. Should I have a bad feeling about this or not?"

"No, you shouldn't. I'll see you in a bit."

The phone clicked off and he stared at it for a moment before getting his shoes on and heading down to the car.

The drive took longer than he thought in weekend traffic, and by the time he got to the diner, Scully was already sitting in their booth. She didn't look like she'd slept the night before, and that had him almost as worried as her napkin tearing did. He slid into the booth across from her and she looked up, gracing him with a little smile.

"Did your order yet?"

"Nah, I was waiting for you."

He nodded and snagged her glass of water as the waitress came over.

"Hi guys. What'll it be?"

"I'll have the soup and salad."

"And for you sir?"

"Bacon burger, extra cheese, extra fries. Coke to drink."

She nodded and left the table, and Mulder slid Scully's water back to her.

"So what's going on?"

She sighed and rolled up her napkin and pushed it away.

"I never really told you much about Missy, did I?"

"Not really. I mean, you've told me stuff about when you were kids, but not much about her life as an adult."

"She was always kind of a rebel. Kind of off center and weird. Then she met Matt. He was divorced and had a daughter and for the first time in her life, Missy was dreaming about making pies and china patterns and all that and wife stuff. Matt's daughter Sarah loved Missy and Missy thought Sarah was just about the greatest thing ever. They became part of the family, and Matt and Missy were going to get married. And then Missy freaked out. Just picked up and left. Wandered all over the country, doing whatever it was she wanted to do. You know that part. Anyway, when she finally came back, Matt didn't trust her anymore, and Sarah was hurt, so they called off the wedding. We saw them again at her funeral, and mom sends them a Christmas card, but other than that, we don't hear from them much. Nothing bitter, we just kind of drifted out of each other's lives. That was Sarah on the phone last night. She's pregnant."

"Wow."

"Matt kicked her out. She's 16 and had nowhere to go. So she called me."

"Why?"

"Because. I was the only person she could think of. She's going to stay with me for a while. Until Matt lets her come home or… I don't know. We didn't really talk specifics. But she's scared and stressed out and wants to be home with her dad, but I don't think he knows how to handle this."

"Do you?"

"I don't know. To me she's still that little eleven year old girl who looked up at me and asked if I would still be her aunt. I can support her and be there for her, but I don't know what it's going to do to me. I don't know if this is the best thing for her. I guess we just play it by ear, but I don't know."

He nodded and reached across the table to take her hand.

"Maybe you need to take the week off, spend some time with her and figure out what's going to happen. Is she keeping the baby?"

"I don't know. She doesn't want an abortion, but she doesn't know if she wants to keep it or do adoption."

"What about the father?"

"He wants nothing to do with her or the baby."

"What a winner."

"It's not really surprising, is it?"

"No. What's the story with her mom?"

"She split when Sarah was three," she answered with a heavy sigh. "So you can imagine what it was like for them when Missy took off."

"Missy knew and she still…? I'm sorry Scully, but that's terrible."

"I know. She wasn't my favorite person for a long time after she did that."

Mulder sat back against the padded booth, but still managed to keep a hold on her hand.

"This is heavy, Scully."

"I know."

"Can I help you?"

"If I figure out how, I'll let you know."

Their food came then, and they ate with minimal conversation. Mulder wasn't really sure what to say, and Scully seemed all talked out, so the silence was comfortable. He paid the bill once they were done, then took her hand and led her outside.

"Walk?"

"Yes, please."

He kept her hand wrapped in his as they strolled quietly down the street.

"Scully?"

"Yeah?"

"Is this going to be hard for you? I mean… the fact that this sixteen year old girl is going to have a baby and you can't?"

"Maybe. But I can't really dwell on that."

"It's okay to feel that though. You know that, right?"

"I know."

"I'm proud of you for doing this. Not everyone would just take in a kid like that."

"I know."

He moved his hand from hers and placed his arm around her, drawing her close to his side.

"Are you going to need to be in town all the time now?"

"I don't know. I'll have to ask her if she'll be okay when I'm gone. Otherwise she can stay with mom. Work stuff probably won't change too much."

He nodded and squeezed her shoulder.

"You'll be good for her, Scully. You might be just what she needs."

"Thank you."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead before they headed back to their cars.


	3. Chapter 3

Scully sighed as she opened the front door and stepped into her apartment. She'd hid it well, but the problems Mulder had mentioned had not even occurred to her. How could they not have? Of course this was going to be hard. She had been so focused on Sarah that her own feelings hadn't even come to mind. She raked her fingers through her hair and went into the kitchen.

Sarah was sitting at the table, reading the newspaper and taking notes on a large Post-it pad. Her feet were wrapped around the chair legs and she was twisting a dark curl around her finger.

She looked seven.

"Hey Whirlybird. What are you doing?"

"Classifieds. Looking for a job."

"Why?"

"Because. I need money. I need a job with health benefits. I can't get prenatal check ups if I don't have insurance or money, and I'm going to have to buy maternity clothes and other things that I'm sure I'm not thinking of."

"Honey, stop. Take a breath."

"That doesn't fix anything."

"I know. But you need to slow down. I applaud you stepping up to the plate like this honey, but you're going to stress yourself out. For right now, let me and your dad figure out how long you're going to be here before you make any big plans, okay? I'll take you to the doctor next week and we'll worry about things after that. Okay?"

"Alright. I just want to get a job before I have to quit because I'm monstrous."

Scully chuckled and patted Sarah's hand.

"Just for now, don't worry about anything."

"I don't want to mooch."

"You're not. You're family. Now, are you hungry?"

"I could eat. Where have you been anyway?"

"I just met a friend for lunch."

"A friend, huh?"

"My partner. I kind of left him in the lurch last night."

"Because of me?"

"Yeah, but he ditches me all the time, so don't feel bad."

"He?"

"Sarah."

"Is this the guy Grandma Maggie talked about all the time? What was his name?"

"Mulder."

"You guys have been partners forever."

"Feels like it. Pizza sound good? I have leftovers."

"Sure."

Scully opened the fridge and pulled the pizza box out.

"There's some cheese and some everything. Which do you want?"

"Ew, who eats plain cheese?"

"I do!"

"Who gets everything?"

"Mulder does. And then he puts extra cheese on it."

"I'll have it without the extra cheese."

"Wise girl," Scully said, putting some pizza on a plate and sticking it in the microwave oven.

"So… what do you normally do on a Saturday?" Sarah asked, running her finger on the rim of her water glass.

"Well, provided Mulder hasn't carted me off to Timbuktu on a case, I try and get caught up on house work, run some errands. Why do you ask?"

Sarah shrugged.

"Just wondering. I don't want to step on your toes or anything."

"You're not. I need to go grocery shopping later, do you want to come?"

"Maybe. I'm kind of tired."

"Get used to it."

"What?"

"Being pregnant makes you tired. And sick. And miserable."

"Thanks for the encouragement."

"Sorry. I am cursed with telling it how it is."

"They call that gritty realism," Sarah said as the microwave dinged. Scully chuckled and took the plate out, and set it on the table.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Your boyfriend-"

"Chris."

"Chris. How long were you guys together?"

"A year."

"How long have you guys been…?"

"Just once, believe it or not."

"And when you told him, what did he say?"

"He said it was my fault and I should get an abortion. He said if I decided to keep it that was my decision, but he didn't want it to ruin his life. He even questioned if it was his."

"Nice gentleman."

"Yeah. He wasn't like that at first, but I should have seen it coming."

"Why?"

"He was nice at first. He really cared about me. And as time went on, he would get mad at me for little things. He never really yelled, but he would get moody. I thought it was just stress at school and at home and work, but it started happening more and more. I think he was looking for an excuse to break up with me, and then this happens and it's the perfect out. Maybe he's just scared, but he needs to step up and take responsibility. Whether we're together or not, this is his kid too. I don't know if I'm going to keep it, but if I do, this kid is going to need a father."

Scully nodded, her stomach aching with sympathy and jealousy.

"Sweetie, I don't know what to say. I wish it was more straight-forward or that there was a rule book to follow. All I can think to do is just figure out what you need and want right now and figure out how to get that."

"I want to go back to the way things were. I need to figure out how to talk to my dad about this. I need his help. He's the only person I ever counted on and I feel like he turned his back on me."

"He's overwhelmed."

"I'm not exactly comfortable either."

"I know. I didn't say what he did was right, but you gotta give him a little leeway here."

"I hate to disappoint him."

"It's going to be okay, kiddo. I promise."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know your dad. Just give him time and you and I will worry about other stuff. Okay?"

"Are you sure you want to get involved with this?"

"Of course I do, Sarah. You called because you needed me. I'm not going to tell you that you don't."

"Thanks, Dana."

"You're welcome. Eat up and we'll go grocery shopping and stop for ice-cream."

"You're just as cool as when I was seven."

"Thanks, kid."


End file.
